Before I get started with this case study, let me clarify that Israel is a socialist country founded by Marxists. So there is very little freedom here.
Now, that being said, government controls healthcare and education entirely. My wife, Natasha, works at a college that is funded by the government. It is extremely inefficient because, no matter how wasteful it gets, taxpayer funding is always guaranteed. Natasha is also very pregnant. There is also a law here that you can’t fire pregnant women. Sounds great, right?
Well, I came home today and Natasha told me that because she’s giving birth (God willing) before the semester actually officially ends, the college cannot legally NOT rehire her. So because she’s having a baby, she’s assured a placement next semester, regardless of whether the college has a class for her to teach.
Well, good news for us, right? Eh…I’d much rather not pay taxes than pay taxes and have my wife get a job because it’s illegal if she isn’t rehired.
It turned out OK for us, but what if circumstance were reversed? What if they refused to hire Natasha initially, suspecting she was pregnant, because they know that they wouldn’t be able to let her go the following semester?
The whole system is rotten. Taxpayer money flowing through a system and misdirected through legal mechanisms will only cause mal-investment, which, any Austrian will tell you, will have to be liquidated. Money earned through government force may as well be welfare. Money must represent value. Not government intrusion.
Natasha is a good teacher. She should be rehired on the basis of need and talent. If they have no need for her, they shouldn’t rehire her just because she was pregnant. If they do, we’re getting money that represents no value.
And the debt bubble expands just a little bit more.
What will we spend it on? Probably gold.
The Jewish Libertarian 
Rafi,
its AWESOME that you are an Austrian, I never knew. Are you having any success convincing anyone? If Israel was founded by Marxists, then how come that Israel is considered a “jewish state” when socialism is explicitly condemned by the torah? Then if everybody is a socialist, why are we saying we need to make aliyah and come home? Israel, then, is not a “jewish state” if that’s the case. But if Israel is the opposite of a jewish state (disengagement), then why don’t we just stay in exile?
See Aaron Klein’s book The Late Great State of Israel. Rafi, keep up all the great work that you do and may you spread freedom everywhere.
Israel does a lot more things against Judaism than socialism. But there is an element of Socialism in the Torah – it’s called shmitah and yovel. A socialist reset button to a capitalist system. In shmitah, all debts are forgiven. In Yovel (or Jubilee) all land is returned to its original owners. This prevents wealth from being accumulated into the hands of a few. It also shows that, in the end, God owns everything, and our ownership is only temporary. Puts a stop to crony capitalism.
I will check out the book thanks!
I brought up The Late Great State of Israel because Israel will not exist as a jewish state if there is constant infighting between haredi-secular, ashkenazi-sephardi etc. Why do we live in Israel and why are we jews? Why are we the chosen people?
The link between shmitah, and Yovel being socialism is extremely sketchy. But that’s another story. But the real question that needs to be asked is whether it is better living in exile where we have strong communities and we love being jewish or being in Israel where being jewish is increasingly dividing society to such an extent that the future of the state is in jeopardy by our own unwillingness to confront our problems?
Thank you for all the hard work you and Rafi do in supporting Austrian economic thought. May Israel finally find its jewish roots again with the election of Moshe Feiglin (may he also god willing support the gold standard)